What's in a name?

[Splayd]

Hey guys,

The thread about our screen names got me thinking about the names we give our children. How important was the meaning of the name, when naming your children?

[Wags]

Meaning was about 50% of our choice.

My daughter's hebrew name is Rivkah - which means to tie or to bind, captivate and some name books says it means beautiful. As the first born she binds my life with my husbands in ways that transcend even the bonds of marriage. (we could get a divorce, but we would still be her parents.)

My son's hebrew name is Ariel - which means lion of G-d.

[Splayd]

Great names wags and great meanings too.

I always tried to have good meanings for my kids names too.

My eldest is Anastasia Louise which means "Of the resurrection" and "She who will lead the troops to victory". She got baptized this year and really is quite the warrior for the Kingdom.

My other beautiful girl is Nadine Paige whose names mean "Hope" and "Assistant". She also got baptized this year. Her name's pretty apt too. What a blessing she has been to us this year.

My eldest son's name probably had the most personal significance as far as meaning goes. We'd already had 2 daughters before he was born. I also had 2 sisters but no brothers. My parents had sisters but no brothers. My grandparents had no other grandsons and I was an uncle to only nieces. It certainly appeared as if I was just destined to be the only male in a sea of estrogen... until my first boy was born. We called him Zachary Pierce which means "G-d has remembered" "Peter's (me) son"

Finally - our latest edition after a 10 year gap is little Ethan James which literally means "strong" and "supplanter" but I prefer "strong" and "just" (as in James the Just).

[plum]

great names, Splayd. It sounds like you have a wonderful quiverfull!

i do not have children yet, but i must say meaning (emotional and etymological) is going to be very important. Names stand for something. They define a person in one way or another.

[Amylisa8]

Hey guys,

The thread about our screen names got me thinking about the names we give our children. How important was the meaning of the name, when naming your children?

I love reading what you guys have shared here so far!

My first born daughter (who is 18 today!!!) is named Bethany. I chose this name because of it being the name of the town where Yeshua often went. I read somewhere it is known as "the home of His heart." When I first chose this name I didn't know that people even used it for a girl's name. It is fairly popular now, at least in my part of the country.

Our 2nd born daughter is named Stephanie, after my husband, Steve. It means "crowned one."
Our 3rd child is a son, and he is named after Joseph in the Old Testament. It means, "increasing faithfulness." My husband and I always have loved Joseph in the Bible and so we wanted this name for our son.

Our 4th child is named Anna which means "graceful...a quality of grace in the inner man." Her middle name is Theresa which means "reaper." The scripture reference for her name was from the psalms, "It is God who girds me with strength, and makes my way perfect." He gave me this scripture when she was a year old also, because I was really scared when Anna had to have surgery. In fact all three of my youngest children have had to have this same operation to repair a genetic problem with their kidneys/ bladder. Yeshua has seen each of them through to health, alleluia!

Our 5th child is named Cara Marie. Cara means "little friend" in Irish and "heart" in Italian. And Marie means "Living fragrance" which I love. She was really the only child that I felt God told us what to name her before she was born.

Our 6th and last child is named Mario! His name means "warrior." Yeshua spoke to my heart when Mario was a few months old and told me he is called from the womb. I am looking forward to what God has planned for each one of my children. HIS children!


I would love to hear more from you guys about your children too!


:blush: Yeshua Yeshua Yeshua...........

[jgonz]

The names we ended up with for our kids were Definately G-d, because DH and I don't agree on a whole lot. ;) We just Knew each of the names was right for each child...

#1 I named Amelia (Amy) Marie (23.5) because she just looked like an Amy ("hard worker", which she Definately is)... However I wish I'd known that Marie meant "sea of bitterness" because I would Not have given her that middle name... She Does have a tendency to keeping grudges, unfortunately.

#2 we named Aaron Michael (22). We picked it because it was Scriptural, first of all, then found out it meant "to sing, to shine, to teach" (which is So Aaron) & "who is like G-d?" , and we just "knew" that was his name.

#3 was named Anna Marcella (would have been 18.5 had she lived) . She was Definately the "Gracious Warrior" her name meant. She fought to live right up until she died at 4.5 months old (from surgical side effects from trying to fix birth defects).

#4 is named Alexandra Marissa (16.5). "Protector of men" and "by the sea"... which fits her perfectly. She's extremely loyal and loves to be by the water. She's also extremely creative.

#5 is named Abram Micah (14.5). "Father" and "who is like G-d?" He's tender with the youngest kids, and strong & confident.

#6 is named Allen Matthew (12). "Peaceful gift of G-d". Allen didn't Seem like a peaceful gift of G-d as a baby, but he really is a gift. :)

#7 is named Andrew Moses (8). "manly, valiant, courageous" and Moses is of course, "drawn out of the water". Andrew is Definately a strong boy. He's smart and quick and sticks up for his brothers (and baby sister ;)).

#8 is named Amos Manasseh (6). "to be burdened, troubled" "causing to forget". At first glance it doesn't seem like such a good name, but Amos tends to be sensitive to other people's emotions... he feels what others feel. And Manasseh came from Andrew being such a high maintenance, hands-on, 24/7 baby, that Amos was a breath of fresh air being such a peaceful baby. ;) lol

#9 is Angelina Millie (4). "Angelic" and "power, strength". Angelina flows back & forth between being a wonderful little girl and a power to be reckoned with. (We actually settled on Millie as her middle name since she was born the same summer that my grandmother (named Mildred & nicknamed Millie) turned 90 and we wanted to honor her.)

[christianmomof3]

Well, this is not open, so delete me if I am out of order here, but I was taught that the Jewish tradition is to name your children after members of your family that have passed on -you are not supposed to name them after a living family member.
I was named after my grandfather who was David, but I am Dana since I am female, but my hebrew name is Davida (I think - I would have to look it up to be sure - it is the feminine form of David).
So, I named my children after family members - my oldest is named after my mother and grandmother - Mary Ruth (my mom was Mary and her mom was Ruth).
Since it is also a Biblical name, we went with Biblical family names for the rest - son is Jacob David - my maiden name is Jacobs and my dad and grandfather were and my dh is David. Our youngest dd is Rebecca Anne - I have a great great grandmother Rebecca and there are about 13 Annes and Annas in dh's family tree (they are Norweigan - I guess it is a popular Norweigan name).
I am not sure of all the meanings of the names - I think Mary is bitter or sorrowful, but Ruth is more positive - I found compassionate friend for it's meaning and both meanings do describe my 13 yo dd, but I imagine that may describe all 13 yo girls. :)
Jacob means heal holder - I am not sure what that would say about personality, and David is beloved one - and my son is very beloved to me. Rebecca - the meaning I found means bound or tied - :confused: - not sure what that would say about personality, and Anne means gracious - she is only 4, I hope she will be gracious. :)

[Wags]

Well, this is not open, so delete me if I am out of order here, but I was taught that the Jewish tradition is to name your children after members of your family that have passed on -you are not supposed to name them after a living family member.


The Sephardic tradition allows the naming of children after living relatives.

[Kej]

I LOVE threads like this :)
Happy Birthday to your daughter Amylisa8.
My children were named after family members:
Angilena Ann - Lena from my great grandmother and Ann from my mother, mother-in-law and grandmother.
Kristina Lee - Kristina because Christina means Christlike and the K because I wanted it different :), Lee from my sister and grandaddy.

[plum]

does anyone feel that names without a spiritual/biblical significance are not as good as those with that significance?

just wondering

[Amylisa8]

jgonz,
I love how you said your youngest child alternates between being angelic and being a force to be reckoned with! That describes my youngest one perfectly! Also it is encouraging to me how you mentioned that you and your husband don't agree on a lot of things...and yet you have a big family. I can identify with you in that as well. Our Lord is faithful to take care of everything, isn't He!

Kej, thank you for your birthday wish to my daughter! Are you native american? I think your CF character is beautiful.

christianmomof3, I have always loved the name Dana.

God bless everyone here. I love reading about your families.